(14-02-2013 10:57 PM)Anjele Wrote: Hey DLJ,
It was more about getting it out that not everyone is Christian. A lot of others did quick intros the first night and pointed out their faith. But I get what you are saying.

And yes, none us are just one thing and all out experiences factor into what we are.

It went well. The people laughed in the right spots and their focus increased where I wanted it to. All in all, I think it was good.

We had just 3-5 minutes so you could only go so deep with it. I am NOT a public speaker...this was a stretch for me.

I would like to ignore asshattrollEgo r and come back to the REAL TOPIC OF THIS THREAD if possible.
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Not necessarily the atheism - although that's cool that you are living it out loud - mainly the public speaking in general...

So, it went well... will you be doing this again? Perhaps speaking longer? Will you be able to choose your subjects eventually?
Was it as scary as you thought it was going to be?
Once you got started, did you feel you relaxed into it? Have you taken body relaxation into consideration - that can sometimes be helpful?
And the big question; do you think you enjoyed it enough to be excited about it and actually want to do it again?

A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move to higher levels. ~ Albert Einstein

What was the class for? Is it a public speaking class? It seems to be kind of an odd topic for a speech if I do say so myself.

I don't know what I would say exactly if asked to give a speech like that. I suspect I would open with the line of "Just remember that you are unique, just like everyone else" and then say how I used to think of that as funny and as an insult towards of all the people who try to dress and act differently in order to not conform to society, and instead conform to another group. Then I realized it applied to me most of all. I am just like one of you.

I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. The only other time I have written and spoken in front of a group was at my dad's memorial service. That time, I knew everyone there so there was a comfort level. With the class last night, I think the advantage for me was being the oldest. They already see me as kind of a parent figure.
I can't say that I really relaxed into it but I was able to keep a flow going and wasn't stammering and searching for words.
We have three more speeches to give, one will be an instructional talk with props or visual aids, another one we have to select a short clip of a conversation in a movie and talk about the verbal and nonverbal cues in that clip. I don't remember the other one but I know they are all different lengths.
Enjoyed it is a bit of a stretch but I think each one will get easier.

See here they are the bruises some were self-inflicted and some showed up along the way. - JF

(15-02-2013 09:51 AM)Anjele Wrote: I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. The only other time I have written and spoken in front of a group was at my dad's memorial service. That time, I knew everyone there so there was a comfort level. With the class last night, I think the advantage for me was being the oldest. They already see me as kind of a parent figure.
I can't say that I really relaxed into it but I was able to keep a flow going and wasn't stammering and searching for words.
We have three more speeches to give, one will be an instructional talk with props or visual aids, another one we have to select a short clip of a conversation in a movie and talk about the verbal and nonverbal cues in that clip. I don't remember the other one but I know they are all different lengths.
Enjoyed it is a bit of a stretch but I think each one will get easier.

Those sound fun. What instructional topic are you going to do?! And what movie clip?!

See, now these are topics that are fun to think about. I'm going to give it some thought and think about what I would do.

I forgot to ask - was this a prepared speech or extemporaneous speaking? It seemed extemporaneous from what you said but I wasn't sure.
Something that might be a fun exercise for you to make people in your house think you are really crazy:

Think up several topics that you know(or think you know) a lot about and write each topic title on an individual slip of paper and put it in a cup or drawer in your bathroom.
When you go in and have a little mirror time, pull out a random topic and go. You have an audience right in front of you. And you can see what your presentation looks like while you are doing it. You can learn how each word presents itself in the context of your body language and gestures. It can help convey that chin-up-confidence so, that your mind only has to focus on what you are saying. It might even help you relax and have fun with it, if you do it enough - practice, practice.

It was a prepared speech but not in that we read from it. Giving us the topic was to allow us to decide what point or points about ourselves that we wanted to share. It could be very specific like a particular hobby or very general.
He gave us the topic and said to make it more conversational, less like an essay. We were only to use an outline if we needed to find our place or jog our memory regarding something we wanted to mention.
There were some very good interesting talks. We were allowed to ask a couple of questions afterward. This is a basic speech class.
I already gesture a fair amount and I am well aware of facial expression and tone of voice and how those things convey meaning...the kind of stuff that often gets lost here. That's why god made emoticons. My eyebrows often express more than any words to the point that my kids will say to me, "Don't look at me in that tone of voice.
The speech about the video clip will be interesting. I am thinking of watching "When Harry Met Sally" again because that is a dialogue driven movie. And Billy Crystal is a master with facial expressions. I will go through the DVDs I have at home and look for other dialogue movies that I can pull a clip from. I have even thought about "The Breakfast Club" because there are good runs of dialogue to work with.

See here they are the bruises some were self-inflicted and some showed up along the way. - JF